On Tuesday night, for the second time in two weeks, the
Common Council voted against rezoning the former Fox Head
Brewery site to permit development of an apartment complex —
despite the would-be developer’s offer to change 87 of 202
units to apartments for seniors only. Submitted rendering

WAUKESHA — A developer’s
last-minute shot at a luxury apartment development on the former Fox
Head Brewery site fell flat again Tuesday night as the Common
Council voted down a motion to reconsider rezoning the site.

At its last meeting the council voted 8-7 against rezoning the
former brewery site at at
211 and 223 Maple Avenue, effectively killing plans for
developer Terrence Wall’s 202-unit apartment complex on the
triangular site bordered by railroad tracks on two sides.

Tuesday, Alderwoman Kathleen Cummings asked the council to
reconsider the rezoning item after Wall proposed changing 87 of the
units to market-rate apartments restricted to people 55 and older.
Mayor Shawn Reilly said reconsiderations are allowed, but they must
be done by the next meeting and they must be brought forward by
someone who was on the failing side.

Cummings said Alderman Roger Patton, who himself lives in a senior
living facility at Avalon Square, asked her to take a look at Wall’s
revised plan. She said the addition of senior housing was the piece
needed to make it a good project for the space.

Alderman Steve Johnson said rezoning the area
would help move forward the redevelopment of an area that hasn’t
changed in 50 years.

Since the project’s inception, neighbors have
expressed concerns about prospective traffic problems and questioned
whether the development was appropriate for that neighborhood.
Community Development Director Jennifer Andrews has said a
single-family development wouldn’t work there because of soil
contamination and there’s not a good truck route for a manufacturing
facility. Alderman Eric Payne said commercial development wouldn’t
work on the site, since there are lots of vacant commercial
properties in the area, even in locations with much more visibility.

Alderman Vance Skinner said “never say never,”
and Alderman Aaron Perry said city officials shouldn’t be passively
waiting for developers to come in and propose projects for sites
like the Fox Head — they should be proactively seeking ideas.

City Attorney Brian Running pointed out the
council was only discussing a rezoning, not the apartment project as
a whole, but Perry said the rezoning was directly attached to the
project.

“If we approve this, what on earth are we going
to say no to?” Perry said, adding that he believed a commercial
development would work on the site one day. “Apartments are fine in
the appropriate areas with the appropriate developers and this isn’t
one of them.”

Ultimately, the Common Council voted 7-6 against
Cummings’ motion to reconsider the rezoning, effectively rendering
that specific development dead in the water — or the beer, as the
case may be.

How they voted

MOTION (Alderwoman Kathleen Cummings):

To reconsider rezoning 211 and 223 Maple Avenue from
M-2 (manufacturing) and B-3 (business) to B-3 PUD (Planned Unit
Development — provides more flexibility and allows city to provide
additional requirements)